Lost and Found
by JDPhoenix
Summary: Ryan and Kelsi face some trials at the start of senior year. My response to my own drabble challenge.
1. Dare

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I in any way associated with, HSM.

AN: Yes, I'm finally doing my own drabble challenge (from the ryelsi group on LJ, link's in my profile). It somehow turned into an actual story in multi-drabble form though. I don't quite know how.

**Dare **

"I dare you," Kelsi said and Ryan's mouth went dry at her tone.

"Wh-what?" he asked, meeting her eyes over the piano.

She smiled and tilted her chin up defiantly. Her fingers danced over the keys as she played a jaunty tune. Ryan scowled at the insult, a plan quickly forming in his mind.

"Fine," he said, pretending to be angry before turning on his heel and walking out the door.

The playful notes were quickly replaced by light footsteps behind him.

"Making sure I do it?" he asked.

"Mm-hm," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. He hid one of his own and kept his pace steady until they were inches from the water.

"Chicken?" she asked when he stopped.

"No, I just don't want to do it alone." He whirled suddenly and grabbed her around the waist, before jumping into the pool. Her screams died out as the water closed over their heads.

When they surfaced she was glaring at him and he couldn't help but laugh at her dripping cap. His own was floating towards the waterfall. She splashed him petulantly and he only laughed harder before swimming across the pool to retrieve his hat. He was surprised to see her still floating there when he turned.

"What?" he asked with a laugh, certain she was going to attempt some sort of payback.

She closed her eyes momentarily and ground out, "I need a towel."

"The entire point of dragging you in too was so that I didn't have to be soaking wet all by myself."

Her glare hardened and she said something he couldn't hear.

"What was that?" he teased.

"I'm wearing a white shirt!" she yelled and suddenly he wasn't laughing anymore.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	2. Why?

**Why?**

Years of practice had given Ryan a good defense against Sharpay. He could easily block out her voice as she rattled off everything she had to do now that their senior year had begun. When she seemed to ask a question or need some encouragement he would nod his head or make some vague sound of affirmation. He was halfway through a combination of the two when he saw something that made his heart freeze.

"Well, it's about time," Sharpay muttered, opening her lockers.

Ryan continued to gape. He knew his mouth was working comically and his eyes must be as big as saucers but he didn't care. Coming down the hall were Taylor, Gabriella, Martha, and a very hat-less Kelsi.

He left Sharpay, who was ranting madly about how Kelsi might finally be developing some fashion sense, and marched right up to the girl in question. The other girls all seemed a bit shocked by his angry march but Kelsi just met him head on. She gave him a curious look, waiting for him to make the first move.

He lifted his hands pleadingly to her bare head and said the only thing he could, "_Why?_"

* * *

_reviews=love_


	3. Routine

**Routine**

If nothing else, Ryan's pathetic cry made the whole experiment worth it. It wasn't that she liked seeing him look completely sad and dejected (though this was excellent payback for throwing her in the pool last week). But Ryan was funny when he was confused and the laughter from her friends told her she wasn't alone in that belief.

"I'm breaking routine," she said and sauntered around him, clutching her books to her chest as if they could strengthen her resolve.

"'Breaking routine'?" he demanded, following so close on her heels that she had to hurry to keep from being tripped.

"Yes," she said, stopping abruptly at her locker. "I'm trying something new … for the new year," she added.

"But," he leaned on the locker beside hers, shoving his puppy dog face almost directly in her line of sight. "Hats are our thing."

Her heart fluttered a bit at that but one look in his eyes told her he was still just her best friend. She flicked the brim of his fedora up. "Well, now they're your thing. You're unique, be happy."

He made some unintelligible noise and flopped around, leaning his back against the lockers and running a hand over his upturned face.

"Hey, Kelsi," Sharpay said, surprising them both with her friendly tone. "You know I'm really glad you dropped the whole hat thing."

Kelsi bit her lip as Ryan repeated his horrified expression from earlier.

"This opens up so many options," Sharpay added, fingering a lock of Kelsi's hair. "You should really let me do your hair."

"Thanks?" Kelsi said, trying to hide both her confusion and humor.

"**Don't encourage her!**" Ryan yelled so loudly that both girls (and half the hall) jumped.

Sharpay just rolled her eyes and walked away with a "Come on, Ryan."

Ryan looked between his sister and his friend. Finally, backing away from Kelsi and wagging a disapproving finger at her, he said, "This is _not_ over."

* * *

_reviews=love_


	4. Smile

**Smile  
**

"Why did you drop the hats?" Gabriella asked abruptly.

Kelsi started. All three girls were looking at her intently, waiting for her answer.

"I just did," she said, frowning, "does there have to be a reason?"

"Yes," the others chorused.

Kelsi sighed. There was no way to explain why she'd stopped. It had started as a way to tease Ryan but the more she'd thought about hats and Ryan the more she realized …

She stood so quickly she almost overturned the table. "I'm gonna go."

"Wait!"

"Kelsi!"

"No!"

Kelsi ignored them and marched away, leaving the food court so swiftly that several mall patrons stared after her. She didn't care. She didn't want to think about the hats or about Ryan and she definitely didn't want to think about the hats _and_ Ryan. It was too hard.

She was so intent on her thoughts that she didn't notice where she was going. "Whoa!" someone yelled and Kelsi felt herself falling. A hand caught her inches from the ground and she looked up into a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Thanks," she squeaked.

He smiled and lifted her up. "You okay?" he asked, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Yeah," she laughed, unconsciously reaching up to check her hat, only to remember that she wasn't wearing one. This only made her laugh more.

"What's so funny?" he asked. He had one of those thousand watt smiles and when it reached his eyes they sparkled.

"Nothing," she said. "Thanks again. That was a really good catch."

"Hey, no problem." He shifted restlessly and over his shoulder she could see a group of boys watching them.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your friends. I think I have to crawl in a hole and die or something."

"Wait."

She could feel a blush climbing to her cheeks and took her time turning back around.

"You know, that could have been a really bad fall."

Kelsi nodded slowly.

"I mean, you could have gotten hurt pretty bad. I could have saved your life."

"Is that so?"

"Oh yeah, and you know what they say when a man saves your life."

"So, I owe you my life now, is that it?"

"Well, I'd settle for a date."

His blue eyes flashed with mirth and she couldn't help but say yes; after all, it wasn't like she had any other offers.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	5. Secrets

**Secrets**

"Kelsi!" Ryan called, running down the deserted hall. He gave her his most winning smile, the one that she could never say no to. "So, guess who Sharpay left in a lurch?" he asked.

"I thought you got a Vespa for winning the Star Dazzle award?" she asked, loading books into her backpack. She wasn't looking at him, how was he supposed to beg when she wouldn't look at him?

"Yeah, but Shar made me ride with her this morning. She wanted to use the carpool lane."

"So where is she now?" she asked. She closed her locker and turned.

His smile immediately brightened. "Gabriella's. I know, I was shocked too. I actually wondered if the universe was going to implode or something. So, anyway, here I am, alone and ride-less. I was wondering if I could take the bus with you. We could work on the autumn musical until --"

"I'm not taking the bus," she said hurriedly. Only then did he realize that she'd been growing more and more solemn as he spoke.

"You've got a ride? Could they take me?" he added, trying his pathetic face one more time.

"No!" she said quickly and Ryan pulled back as if struck. "Listen, I gotta go." She turned to leave then paused, not bothering to look back at him. "Are you _sure_ Sharpay is with Gaby?"

"That's what she said," Ryan said hollowly.

Her shoulders sagged. "Great, just great," she muttered.

"Kels, is anything wrong?" he reached out to her but she started running before he could touch her.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	6. Knight

**Knight**

Ryan stood in the hallway for a long time. Kelsi had never been so … skittish. She was shy, sure, but she'd never acted like this around him. She'd always been open with him. And what did Kelsi have to do with Sharpay and Gabriella, aside from them all being girls and them all being friends (sort of, in Sharpay's case)?

Suddenly Chad and Zeke came running around a corner, looking up and down the hall frantically.

"Did you see that?" he heard Zeke say. "Even his _car_ is blue!"

When they saw him they seemed to find what they were searching for.

"There you are!" Chad called.

"What's up?" Ryan asked, only to have each boy take one of his arms and start dragging him backwards down the hall. "Guys! What are you doing?" he demanded, trying to keep up while walking in the wrong direction.

"Team meeting," Chad said, his tone dangerous.

"I'm not on the team!" Ryan yelled. They paid him no mind and walk-dragged him into the locker room. Once there they let him go and he looked around, surprised to find that only the senior members of the basketball team were present and glad to find them all fully clothed. They lounged about the lockers, some leaning, some sitting on benches, one or two pacing.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked warily.

"Good, you found him," Troy said, "now we can start."

"This is all Cross's fault," Nate muttered.

"Hey!" Jason yelled. "She broke up with me!"

"Let's not point fingers," Chad said, stepping into the middle of them. "Let's just find a way to fix this."

"Fix what?" Ryan demanded.

All eyes turned to him.

"You don't know?" Jason asked.

"The girls all know," Zeke said.

"Do I look like a girl!" Ryan more yelled than asked.

All eyes traveled up the few inches to his pink hat. "Pink used to be considered a manly color," he said. "Now will someone please tell me why I've been kidnapped?"

Troy and Chad argued silently with each other. Finally, Troy stepped up to Ryan. He opened his mouth to speak, then looked at the space between them and took a quick step back. Seeming satisfied that he was now at a safe distance he said, "Kelsi's dating a West High Knight."

* * *

_reviews=love_


	7. Green Eyed Monster

**Green-Eyed Monster**

Ryan stared up at his ceiling. The Wildcats had theorized and plotted for over an hour before Coach Bolton finally came in and ordered them to leave. Troy had given Ryan a ride home in his death truck. Throughout it all Ryan had stayed silent. Even when the team looked to him for the help they clearly thought he could provide, the insight into the enigma that was Kelsi Nielson, he couldn't find anything worth saying. He obviously knew nothing at all about Kelsi. If he had wouldn't he have seen this? Wouldn't he have noticed all the little changes in her that he'd overlooked over the past weeks?

He'd assumed her unusually bright smile was a sign of excitement for the new school year and the fall musical. He'd thought the new love song she was writing had been the product of one too many nights spent watching old movies. He'd thought her new interest in dressing girly was the result of peer pressure.

When in reality it was all because of some stupid, basketball-playing, blue car driving, probably can't even carry a tune or do a jazz square Knight!

What was Kelsi doing with him anyway? Weren't there perfectly good guys at East High? What about Jason?

Ryan rejected that thought immediately. He hadn't particularly liked Kelsi dating Jason either. In fact, he still got a bit miffed when he thought about it.

Ryan bolted up in bed, a frightening thought occurring to him. He couldn't believe it, but every romance he'd ever seen or acted in told him it was true.

He needed a second opinion. As he fled his room he went through his available sources of information. His mother was at his grandmother's house in Madrid, so she was out. His father would probably be best, but he wasn't eager to explain his entire adolescence to the man in one sitting, so that left Sharpay. He barreled into her room without so much as knocking.

"Ryan!" she gasped in surprise. He vaguely registered that she was doing her nails as he marched up to her.

"Am I in love with Kelsi?" he asked.

Sharpay slowly smiled. "Took you long enough to figure it out. I've known since ninth grade."

* * *

_reviews=love_


	8. Friends

**Friends**

Kelsi was not happy. Sure, she'd known that dating a Knight was dangerous, that her friends wouldn't understand at first. Key phrase: "at first." She thought they'd come around eventually. But the minute she told Gaby and Taylor why the "cute boy who dropped her off" wasn't coming into school with her the day before, she knew she was in for trouble. And when Ryan told her that Sharpay was at Gabriella's! She'd almost had a fit right there in the hallway. How dare they plot behind her back!

But now it was becoming clear that they weren't the only ones plotting. Every single senior on the basketball team was avoiding her. Wait, no, not _every_ senior. Jason had asked if she wanted to see a movie, but was clearly more interested in ensuring that Martha not hear him. He was obviously relieved when she gave him a firm "no" and asked that she never mention it to anyone. She readily agreed. So, the basketball team was scheming. So what? It was clear and obvious that the brains in this school did not spend their time on the basketball court. But she would have to worry about the girls. With Sharpay on their side she wasn't sure there was anything they couldn't do (and that included world domination).

After the fifth person skirted around her in the halls she was glad to see Ryan. She practically skipped up to his locker with a boisterous, "Hey!"

He flinched visibly and met her eyes for one tentative moment before looking pointedly away.

"Hi," he more croaked than said.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Sharpay on a tear?" she joked.

"No, Sharpay was fine."

"Come on," she said, leaning against the lockers. "You can tell me."

"No, I can't."

Her breath caught in her throat. "This is about Sky, isn't it?"

His eyes flashed angrily but he bit back whatever heated retort she could see building. "So that's his name," he muttered.

"Don't tell me that you're mad about this too. It's a silly school rivalry!"

He seethed silently, keeping his eyes on his locker and his hands busy with books she knew he didn't need until the afternoon.

"I thought you were my friend," she said and walked away.

Before she heard his locker close behind her she could have sworn she heard him say, "So did I."

* * *

_reviews=love_


	9. Dependence

**Dependence**

Kelsi didn't know how much she had grown to depend on her friends until that day. There was a time, not too long ago, when she would have gone through the whole day not saying more than two words to anyone besides Ryan and Sharpay. But now, after so many months of being one of the Wildcats, it was hard to make it through even a few hours without being able to joke about Mr. Truax's toupee, or agonize over the quiz in Ms. Chick's class.

At least no one seemed to hate her, they just didn't know what to do with her. Even Jimmie was avoiding her, though she suspected it was more of an effort to emulate the senior team members than because he actually knew anything.

At lunch she found herself sitting alone, not because she wasn't welcome anywhere, but because she didn't want to listen to anyone's lame attempts to talk to her. She was dating Sky, what was so wrong with that? He was sweet and he liked her and whose business was it anyway?

Though, she was fairly certain that a few more days like this one and she'd go absolutely crazy. No friends at all? Not exactly a great way to spend senior year.

"Hey," Ryan said, sliding into the seat across from her.

"Hey," she said, blinking in confusion. He didn't look at her, didn't say another word, but she smiled. She could always depend on Ryan Evans.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	10. Patience

**Patience**

Ryan could do this, he decided. He could stand by Kelsi, defend her to their friends, to the school. After all, he didn't really care that … _that guy _was a Knight, he just cared that he was dating Kelsi.

And it wasn't like he had to see them together. If he always got to school early and always left late then he stood very little chance of seeing her get out of or into his car. And if he spent all his nights in he was sure never to see them out on a date.

It would end eventually, just like it had with Jason. Even if it wasn't the differences between them that pushed them apart, college would certainly do the job. He could wait. For Kelsi, he could wait forever.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	11. Game

**Game**

"This isn't healthy," Sharpay said, marching right into Ryan's room one Thursday night and rummaging through his closet.

"What?" he asked, looking up from his calculus book.

"You can't just sit in here and pine over Kelsi," she said. "We're going to the game."

"Shar, I don't --"

She whirled, pinning him with her coldest stare. "We are going to the game whether you like it or not. Now take that off."

He looked down at his outfit. Black jeans and a red shirt seemed appropriate for a basketball game. "Why? These are the school colors."

Sharpay smiled and threw jeans, a shirt, and a new hat at him. He dropped most of it on the bed before lifting up the shirt and giving her a questioning glance.

"We're not going to the Wildcats' game. We're going to the Knights'."

"No," Ryan said, dropping the blue shirt as if it had bitten him.

Sharpay looked at him as if he were a misbehaving child. "You want to know what he looks like, don't you?"

He did, he really, really did. "Kelsi will be there," he tried.

"So we'll blend. We'll sit in the back row behind the people with the signs." When he was still unconvinced she grabbed his arm pleadingly. "Come on, Ry, we haven't had a clandestine mission since summer. I miss plotting evil schemes with my brother." She was pouting, and not the pouting she did when she wasn't getting her way or when she wanted their father to increase her credit limit. This was the pout she saved just for him.

"Fine," he muttered, knowing he would pay dearly for this later.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	12. Dawn

**Dawn**

Ryan's chest burned. He'd slept fitfully all night and had finally left the house shortly before dawn for a run. Now the sun was rising slowly over the Albuquerque skyline and making him even hotter than he already was. He should probably go home, eat something, shower before school. Maybe he could convince his father to excuse him. He knew Kelsi needed him, knew that though their other friends were slowly coming around he was still the only one she could depend on and that made him run even harder.

He rounded a bend in the path and saw the lake shimmering. The light bounced off it, blinding him to everything that was farther than a few feet before him. He heard another runner coming towards him, heard his friendly "Hey," but when he finally came into view and he finally saw his face, all he could think of was the sight of this same runner kissing Kelsi at the Knights game. His fist came up before he even knew what was happening.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	13. Youth

**Youth **

Kelsi didn't think anything of it when Sky called to say he couldn't drive her to school. She'd thought it was silly for him to do it anyway since they lived on opposite sides of town.

She started to worry when Ryan didn't show up for homeroom and Sharpay actually seemed afraid to look at her. Ryan hadn't missed a day of school since starting at East High. When she finally got Sharpay to talk the girl made some excuse about Ryan having a long night, which made no sense since he'd told Kelsi himself that he was planning on turning in early.

She knew something was wrong when she took three buses to get to Sky's house and found him with a black eye. She stayed with him, agreeing with him that some Wildcats just took their school pride too far, and watching old movies with him until he fell asleep from the pain medication. She turned down his mother's offer of a ride and instead took four buses and walked a mile to reach Ryan's house. She didn't bother ringing the bell but walked inside, past the confused butler, up the stairs, and into Ryan's room.

"Grow up!" she yelled and, as she left, convinced herself that she didn't care about the bruise on his jaw or the dried blood above his lip or how very afraid and sorry he'd seemed when he saw her.

* * *

_reviews=love_


	14. Pride

**Pride**

Kelsi refused to speak to Ryan outside of drama club and even then she would only say the absolute minimum. Even though neither of them told anyone what had happened, word got around school quickly enough. At least the part of the story where Ryan decked someone from West High. His street cred had increased substantially and only a few seniors ever suspected that he had a reason other than school pride.

"So," Troy said, taking the seat to Ryan's left at lunch. Only when Chad sat down on his other side did Ryan suspect this was an ambush.

"You're an idiot," Chad said, taking a fry.

"How do you figure?" Ryan asked, eating one of his own fries.

Troy raised an eyebrow as Ryan's hand passed him and Ryan looked down, seeing the scabs on his knuckles.

"Oh, that. It was nothing."

"You got into a fight with Kelsi's boyfriend," Troy said.

"Do you have any idea how many ways Taylor would kill me if I did something like that?" Chad asked. "You're lucky Kels is so understanding."

"She hasn't spoken to me in over a week."

"Yeah, but you're not dead."

* * *

_reviews=love_


	15. Song

**Song**

"Kelsi?" Ms. Darbus called after rehearsals. "Could you stay a moment?"

Kelsi nodded. She could feel Ryan watching her, had felt him watching her every time they were together since she'd stormed out of his room. Slowly the other members of the drama club filed out, Sharpay dragging Ryan behind her to move him along. When they were alone Ms. Darbus slid onto the piano bench beside Kelsi and began playing a slow tune.

"You know, I've seen a lot of students perform here," she said, her hands moving elegantly over the keys. "But I don't think we've ever had quite the amalgam of talent we've had these past two years."

Kelsi bit her lip. Had she not been putting the proper effort into the Winter Musical? She hated when Ms. D was disappointed.

"I also haven't seen this much camaraderie on the stage -- and off -- in a long time."

"Ms. Darbus, why are you telling me this?"

She stopped playing abruptly and turned to Kelsi. "Friends," she began slowly, "are like songs. Some you like right away, some grow on you, and some …" She frowned at the confused look on Kelsi's face. "You know what? Boys are stupid. You can't hold that against them."

Kelsi's eyes widened. "How did you --?"

"We teachers know a lot of things, dear. Now that we've got the heart-to-heart out of the way, I wanted to talk to you about the opening of the second act."

* * *

_reviews=love_


	16. Album

**Album**

Even Sharpay had her limits. If she had to listen to one more sad song she was going to kill someone and heaven only knew how many depressing CDs Ryan had lying around. She grabbed her cell phone and hit the speed dial.

"Sharpay!" Zeke cried happily.

"Hi, Zeke," she said with a smile. "Listen, we have a problem."

"What? Do you need cookies?"

"No, I --"

"Brownies? Cake? A soufflé?"

"No! Zeke, I need you to get the other wildcats."

"Why?"

"I know I said that I didn't care about the whole school pride thing, but now it's personal."

"Ryan's still taking it pretty hard?"

"Yes! Now call the others. We can meet at the library."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"I do know where the library is, Zeke," Sharpay snapped.

"Okay, I was just … a little confused. I'll get them."

Sharpay smiled and tucked the phone into her purse. As she began slipping on her boots she was graced with a moment of blessed silence, only to have it broken by yet another of Ryan's annoying goth rock albums.

"Ryan doesn't even like goth rock," she muttered, "where did he get all this stuff?"

* * *

_reviews=love_


	17. Gift

**Gift**

Kelsi smiled at Sky across the seat. One month, one solid month they'd been going out. He'd told her the plan already. They were going to U of A for a play then out to dinner at his favorite Korean place. It was perfect. She sighed. Well, it was supposed to be perfect. And it would have been, if only she wanted to be there.

Sky suddenly threw the car into park and ran a hand through his hair.

"I can't do this," he said.

"What?" she asked.

He turned to her, his eyes pleading. "I'm sorry, Kels, I really like you …."

Kelsi gripped her shawl tighter, waiting desperately for the end of that sentence.

"But there's someone else."

"Yes!"

"What?"

"Oh," Kelsi laughed. "I've been trying to tell you the same thing."

"Really?" Sky asked, obviously shocked he'd gotten off so easily.

Kelsi nodded. "Who's yours?" she asked.

"Melissa, you've met her."

"Head cheerleader," Kelsi nodded. "I thought I saw her giving me the evil eye."

Sky chuckled lightly. "What about you?"

Kelsi winced and lifted a tentative finger to the still-healing cut over his left eye. "The guy who did this," she said with a wince.

"Seriously? Whoa. Tell him he's got a killer left hook."

"You're not mad?"

"I'm breaking up with you on our one month anniversary. I thought you'd be mad."

"I'm breaking up with you too," Kelsi pointed out. "I hope you didn't get me a present," she said quickly.

His eyes widened slightly. "Was I supposed to?"

"Sharpay said you were, but Zeke gives her presents all the time so …"

"Ah, well, we both get to go date the people we really like and neither of us got hurt, that's a pretty good gift."

"I guess you're right. Though …"

"What?"

"It would be a shame for those tickets to go to waste."

"You are the weirdest girl ever, Kelsi Nielson. I hope that blond dork can handle you."

"Hey! That's blond drama dork, to you."

"Yes, ma'am," Sky said and quickly pulled back into traffic.

* * *

_reviews = love_


	18. Test

**Test**

Ryan kept his eyes firmly on his test. Through some strange twist of fate he'd been late to class and the only seat left had been right next to Kelsi. He read through question three a fifth time and then a sixth because he still couldn't focus on it.

"Psst," Kelsi hissed.

He looked sharply at her, careful to keep his head down lest he attract the teacher's attention. Kelsi was similarly bent over her desk, smiling at him. It felt like years since she'd last smiled at him.

"What?" he mouthed.

"We need to talk."

"Now?"

Her shoulders shook in silent laughter.

"Evans! Nielson!" Mr. Myers snapped and both jumped in their seats. There was a knock on the door before they could get in any more trouble and Myers shot them a glare. "Yes?" Myers asked and several students' eyes widened when they saw Donny standing in the doorway.

"Ms. Darbus needs Kelsi and Ryan. Some set emergency."

"The sets?" Kelsi asked, sharing a fearful glance with Ryan. If the sets had been seriously damaged there was no way they'd be able to fix them before opening night. The two fairly flew from their chairs and down the hall. When they burst into the theater they froze. Every senior on the basketball team and in the drama club was there.

"Oh no," Kelsi breathed. They'd been ambushed.

* * *

_reviews = love_


	19. Take My Hand

**Take My Hand**

"Take my hand," Ryan said and Kelsi's hand was in his before the words had fully registered in her mind. He pulled her back out the door and down the hall. She could hear the others yelling and their feet echoing behind them in the empty hallways.

"We can't out run the jocks!" she gasped.

"No, but we can out think them," Ryan said and pulled her into the Home Economics room. It was empty this period and he guided her quickly around the desks and threw open the far door before heading towards the back of the room.

"Wait," she said, confused.

"Shh," he said, turning and smiling at her, "trust me."

They hid in the walk-in pantry at the back of the room and Ryan kept the door open a crack so they could see out. She could feel his chin on the top of her head, peering out with her. The basketball team plowed into the room, immediately going ahead to the door Ryan had opened.

"Genius," Kelsi muttered.

"You say that like it's weird."

"Well, sometimes you're really stupid." She turned, only then realizing how close they were in the small pantry.

"Yeah, I am. And I'm sorry."

"You'd better be."

"I mean," he sighed, "I'm sorry that I beat up your innocent boyfriend. I'm not sorry about why I did it."

Kelsi's breath caught in her throat. "Why did you do it?" She was suddenly very aware of how dark the pantry was and how close they were. She could feel his breath on her cheek and in the dim light streaming in from the classroom she could see him bending slowly down. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she touched the door behind her with her fingertips, thankful for something solid. Something solid that was moving under her weight.

"Ah!" she cried and Ryan quickly reached for her in an attempt to catch her. When he grabbed her waist she was already too far gone and he was too far off balance and they both fell to the floor.

"Here they are!" Jimmie cried above them.

Kelsi landed hard on her tailbone and ended up laughing and moaning hysterically. Ryan, who had fallen on his face, was clutching his sides and laughing too heavily to make any sound.

* * *

_reviews = love_


	20. Spellbound

**Spellbound**

"We will handle this!" Ryan yelled and slammed the practice room door shut. Outside were all of their friends and he had no doubt that they were now leaning against the door trying to hear what he and Kelsi said. He shrugged at her and came to sit beside her on the piano bench.

"So," she said.

"So," he agreed. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with a smile. "It's been a while."

"Feels like forever," she muttered.

"I missed you."

"Me too." She laughed suddenly. "I'm sorry," she said, "it's just … this feels weird."

He tipped her chin up. "It doesn't have to. We're friends, first and foremost. We can be other things … when it's time."

"How will we know when it's time?"

He turned on the bench and began playing one of her songs from freshman year, one she'd never played for anyone but him because she didn't think it was good enough.

"It'll be like a musical," he said. "The music will slow down and become lighter and … it'll just fit."

He started to sing lightly, watching out of the corner of his eye as her eyes closed and she started swaying along with the music. He loved watching her get lost in music and, before he could think better of it, he kissed her quickly on the cheek.

"Wha--?" she gasped. "You just said --"

"The moment felt right!" he half-laughed, backing away from the piano quickly.

She grabbed a tuning fork and made to throw it at him. He ducked down, protecting his head but when nothing hit him he ventured a look up and saw Kelsi standing above him. He straightened, gathering himself for yet another apology, and was pleasantly surprised when she kissed him quickly.

"You were right," she said, pulling back with a smile, "the moment was right. It's about time."

* * *

_AN: It really is. Thanks for all the reviews, this is without a doubt my most reviewed story. HSM fans are my new favorites. Hugs for you all!_

_reviews = love_


End file.
